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NEW YORK POLITICS 



BY 



EDWARD G. SMITH, Secretary 
The National and Municipal Association, Illinois 



'^^; 



WITH PREFACE AND INTROJB^X^IQm CnrT^ 

(-^ 1.951 JUL J3 1898 

\ F}^ ' -♦ . 

^<^l:'^£^f? OF r:OP"'"i^^'^^- 

EXTRACT FROM --'»*,..^" ^ 

THE NATIONAL WEEKLY ^ 
32 Broadway, Room 166 
new york city 






22118 



PREFACE 

The next day after the election of William 
McKinley as President of the United States, 
and the simultaneous defeat of a spasmodic ef- 
fort to elect an emotional candidate on an irra- 
tional platform, a movement was inaugurated in 
Chicago in which many of the most prominent 
Eepublicans of that city participated, for the 
better understanding of the political questions 
of this Republic from a broad Republican stand- 
point. It resulted in the formation of tlie Na- 
tional and Municipal Association, chartered un- 
der the laws of the State of Illinois, January 2, 
1897. This association held weekly meetings 
during the ensuing year in the Court House in 
Chicago, where was adopted a municipal plat- 
form for the city of Chicago, simple, yet com- 
prehensive, succinct, but complete. It calls for 
the abolition of the inadequate " old townsliip 
government " of the last century still prevalent 
in all our municipalities, the obliteration of the 
Fee system, and the full, open, and honest pay- 
ment of all public and municipal servants, al- 
dermen, commissioners, trustees, justices of the 
peace, sheriffs, mayors, etc. 

The Democrats have always clamorously 
charged the Republican Party to be the party of 
corporations and responsible for their corrup- 
5 



tion and oppression. The fact is that the na- 
tional Government has little control over cor- 
porations, and the responsibility for this cor- 
ruption lies in the mnnicipalities everywhere, 
where the corporations are absolutely compelled 
to pay the municipal servants or officers that are 
either not paid at all or inadequately ,, compen- 
sated by the people who elect them to office. 

The failure of the Eepublican Party to be 
specifically organized on municipal questions 
has caused (1) an unchecked continuation of an 
inadequate municipal system that breeds cor- 
ruption; (2) a destructive disease in the national 
Republican Party that cannot be cured on na- 
tional issues as heretofore understood, but must 
be taken up by the national Republican Party 
itself and applied intelligently and locally in its 
municipalities. 

While this movement has emanated from Chi- 
cago and is now being organized into the coun- 
ties of Illinois, in natural course of time it will 
become national. The National and Municipal 
Journal, which started in Chicago in conjunc- 
tion with this work, has merged in the N'a- 
TTONAL Weekly, now being started from New 
York City, elegantly illustrated, cartooned, hav- 
ing thousands of subscribers extending into ev- 
ery State in the Union, with correspondents and 
connections among the ablest and most prom- 
inent Republicans in America. 

The National and Municipal Association 
elected me its secretary. The duties involving 
on me necessitated my visiting many parts of 
the United States for the specific purpose of 



studying and investigating municipal conditions 
and furthering the purposes of this association. 
The introductory pages herein form an interest- 
ing and succinct summary of a broad subject. 
Every week the National Weekly will contain 
a short, interesting sketch of the history of one 
State, together with an interesting analysis of 
the present political sta.tus of that State. " New 
York Politics/' herein described, is a specimen 
of the manner in which the same conditions 
have been observed and commented upon by me 
in many different cities and States, all of which 
will appear serially, and handsomely illustrated, 
in the National Weekly. It is Republican 
and partisan, for which no apology is necessary; 
it was written with a desire to l)e true and 
honest. Edward G. Smith. 



INTRODUCTORY 

Years ago, De Tocqueville, the great French 
political economist, in commenting on our po- 
litical institutions, said that our Constitution 
contained one great defect — " it made no pro- 
vision for the government of great cities/^ A 
clear and scholarly knowledge of the growth 
and evolutions of European civilizations in mu- 
nicipal as well as national government gave this 
keen Frenchman a superior foresight into the 
inevitable municipal problems of the United 
States than was possessed by the patriotic and 
wise men who framed our Constitution. The 
problems of unborn generations sometimes can- 
not be anticipated. 

At the time of the adoption of our national 
Constitution there prevailed, locally, the 
" township government " in the thirteen orig- 
inal United States, which then consisted of a 
narrow fringe on the Atlantic border, popu- 
lated by three million human beings, possessing 
many elements of patriotism and good citizen- 
ship. The township government was then a 
very fitting and appropriate method of local or 
municipal government. Its essential feature 
was the idea that the public should be served 
without compensation, through patriotic mo- 
tives, and in a public spirit. The requirements 
6 



of the public service then were not great, and 
the needs of the individual were small. The 
citizen could afford to give a portion of his time 
to the public, for he had it to spare. It was 
fashionable then; it is impossible now. The 
kilts of the boy will no longer serve the full- 
grown man. One hundred years makes a long 
yesterday. What has it brought forth? Let 
us see! 

Thirteen States have multiplied into forty- 
five States and five Territories; a narrow fringe 
on the Atlantic shore has expanded from ocean 
to ocean, embracing three million square miles, 
populated by seventy million people. The ad- 
vance of civilization in this country has brought 
material developments unprecedented in the 
annals of history. The clause in the Constitu- 
tion granting special privileges to inventors 
wonderfully stimulated inventions. The rail- 
ways have pierced all parts of this country with 
a network of steel rails. The railways move 
everywhere all the material of nature and the 
products of labor; the diversification and im- 
provement of labor stimulates all the popula- 
tion. Printers^ ink and an unchained press her- 
ald broadcast the rapid strides of an unprece- 
dented civilization, and advertise the numerous 
necessary and convenient articles of commerce. 
Great telescopes have given us a glimpse into 
infinite space and put the feat of Joshua side by 
side with the fa])le of Ajax. Moral and religious 
freedom has led to the liberation of the slaves 
and the obliteration of sectional lines. All 
forces and opportunities have led to individual 



8 



betterment of those who sought betterment by 
mental and physical efforts. For more than a 
generation nearly every Presidential election 
has shown the poor man's son evolved into the 
President of this Republic. 

To-day we are in a complex civilization ad 
different from the days of 1776 as the present 
topography of our great cities, with sky-scrap^ 
ers, cable, electric and elevated cars and the 
busy hum of life differs from the wigwam homd 
of the aboriginal red man. 

At the close of the nineteenth century the 
wants and requirements of mankind are vastly 
increased in the United States. It takes thou- 
sands of dollars per annum to support the or- 
dinary man. Business demands most men's 
time and close attention, or they fail in the 
purposes of life. 

While our conditions have changed, our mu- 
nicipal government remains unchanged. The 
township government still prevails. 

The same quality, quantity, and sum-total of 
brains and energy which commands large sal- 
aries in corporate employment, and which at- 
tains fortunes in individual business life, goes 
without adequate, open, or direct compensation 
when exerted in the public service. We ask 
men to serve us as aldermen, trustees, commis- 
sioners, justices, etc., for a nominal or wholly 
inadequate compensation. Thrifty men, with 
a good business qualification, uniformly decline 
to enter the public service, or politics, as we 
style it; cunning and unprincipled men, those 
who, in a material and financial sense, have 



everything to gain, and, in a moral sense, have 
nothing to lose, are generally the only ones who 
can alford to engage in the municipal service of 
the cities of the United States. These men 
spend thousands of dollars to be elected to an 
office that pays but a few hundred dollars a year 
salary. Who gets the money that elects them? 
The saloonkeeper, the livery man, the brewer, 
the distiller, the barrel-house bum, etc. A por- 
tion of the public profits from these conditions. 
As soon as a Board of Aldermen is elected, or 
a State Legislature or a Congress, the first 
thought of the incumbents is to ascertain a sat- 
isfactory solution to the important questions, 
" Where do I come in? " ^^ What is there in it 
for me ? '^ 

No chain is stronger than its weakest link. 
The village, town, municipal. State, and na- 
tional governments are all links in the chain 
of government. Every citizen votes for each 
and is governed by all. In this nation, studded 
with a great number of cities, wherever these 
municipalities are there rise just so many 
springs of corruption that feed the national po- 
litical stream with a moral malaria that is mak- 
ing our whole population its victims. 

Since the War of the Rebellion we have pros- 
pered nationally under Republican and pro- 
tective administrations to such an extent that 
it is a notorious fact the x^merican people wasted 
more per annum than enough to support any 
European nation with its costly royalty and 
armaments. In those bygone days we winked 
at the corruption of our municipal officers be- 



10 



cause we scarcely felt the pilferings of the do- 
mestic thief. But since November 1, 1892, the 
fatal election-day of Grover Cleveland, a Dem- 
ocratic Congress, Senate, and State govern- 
ments, our national prosperity was ruthlessly 
destroyed. Since then every year of increased 
national poverty has accentuated the bitternes.^ 
of our domestic municipal plunder. 

The national Eepublican party that was de- 
feated in 1892 by King Grover and the assinin- 
ity of the American people has a splendid na- 
tional record; but, unfortunately, it is not or- 
ganized on home or municipal questions as it 
should be and as it will be as soon as popular 
demand will indicate to leaders the way. In the 
absence of Eepublican municipal organization, 
the intelligent and thrifty element everywhere, 
ninety-seven per cent, of which votes the Re- 
publican ticket on national elections, has sought 
the mirage of non-partisan reform, to the in- 
jury of the Republican Party, the delight of a 
solid, ignorant, and vicious Democracy, and to 
the confusion of the whole country. 



NEW YORK POLITICS 

There are in New York City two distinct po- 
litical parties — the Democratic and the Kepub- 
lican. The Democratic Party is always a unit 
on election day, but the Kepubllcan Party is 
seldom united. Eeformers, Citizen Unionists, 
Mugwumps, Goo-Goos are all offshoots from 
the Republican root, that spring up periodically 
and then, for want of sustenance, die and wither 
away, while the old Republican trunk roots 
deeper, grows stronger, and is destined to last 
for ages. Of the Republicans and Reformers 
much can be said pro and con; but with the 
Democrats it's all con. Naturally New York 
is Republican; actually it is Democratic. The 
word organization accounts for this difference. 
Richard Croker, the Democratic chieftain, is at 
one end; Tom Piatt, the Republican Boss, is at 
the other end; the Reformers, Mugwumps, Pur- 
ists, or what-nots are in the middle. The plain- 
tive song of these Reformers is *•' both ends 
against tlic middle." They are in the middle 
because they ]nit themselves in the middle. 
They belong to the Republican end of the ])o- 
litical game; they vote the national Republican 
ticket almost to a man. Ninety-seven per cent, 
of them are Re])ublican. Of the three per cent, 
that is not Republican, one is the " nonde- 
11 



12 



script/' another is the "fake/' and the third 
one is the " just object of suspicion." To get 
this grotesque three per cent., the ninety-seven 
per cent, withdraw themselves from the Kepub- 
lican Party, municipally, to bask in the pale 
moonshine of nonpartisanship, while Tammany 
and the lower orders of society march in and 
capture everything in sight. This may be good 
citizenship, this may be patriotism, but it is 
absurd conduct and suicidal to the best interests 
of the community. 

They say Piatt sold out to Croker. We shall 
not discuss rumor. The fact is, the Eepublican 
vote cast for Low secured to Tammany the vast 
patronage and political perquisites of Greater 
New York. We would like to propound this 
question: After a large number of Eepublicans 
withdrew from the Eepublican Party, forming 
a non-partisan municipal movement, how could 
Tom Piatt sell them out? They had severed 
allegiance to him and his party; they embarked 
in the uncertain sea of amateur politics; they 
plunged into a wild gamble; he simply kept on 
playing practical politics on positive lines and 
scientific principles. Owing to the shimmer and 
glamour of nonpartisanship, more than half of 
the Eepublican voters deserted the Eepublican 
Party on the battlefield of ballots. 

In New York it is all a united Eepublican 
Party can do to battle a Democracy that is al- 
ways united on election day. The voters in 
New York are divided in two — on one side Dem- 
ocrats and on the other side Eepublicans. The 
Eeformers, by splitting and quartering the Re- 



13 



publican Party, made Tammany the whole 
thins:. Out of nonpartisanship in New York 
we see nothing else accomplished. Seth Low 
was too high to deal with Platt^ but he was low 
enough to associate with Democrats. T^ut they 
say the Democrats he affiliated with were decent 
Democrats. That may be. We have heard of 
white crows and decent Democrats; but we have 
never seen a white crow and but few decent 
Democrats^ except the Southerner, with whom 
Democracy is an hereditary evil that now, after 
many generations, is wearing away. ITp North, 
however, a decent man has no excuse for being 
a Democrat. The attitude of Seth Low was an 
assumption of personal goodness and political 
lioliness. But facts are facts; he did associate 
with Democrats, his good efforts did give to 
the Tammany tiger the fattest prey upon which 
it has ever gorged itself. His action may have 
been according to Scripture, but it was not 
right. We are Eepublican and do not believe 
in political miscegenation. We have a feeling 
of mingled admiration and respect for Columbia 
University; its beautiful ground and stately 
buildings, its intellectual atmosphere and moral 
aroma impel us to venerate a man capable of 
being its President. For such a man to leave 
such surroundings to become mayor of New 
York and associate with politicians, blacklegs, 
and reformers, certainly, on tlie surface, has 
every appearance of patriotism, self-abnegation, 
and unselfislincss, but scratch the surface, and 
the Presidency of the United States is almost in 
reach. Oh, but then maybe we are illusionary. 



14 



It is right here that we get at the philosophy 
of the situation. When a large element of the 
Eepnblican Party breaks the bounds of party 
ties and seeks to accomplish a right purpose by 
wrong methods, it then becomes the instinctive 
duty of the organization to protect itself. When 
these elements centered in Seth Low; when this 
one man was about to be vested with political 
power greater than any man or organization in 
America; when he was about to become the 
balance of power between the Eepublican Party 
and the Democratic Party; when he was about 
to be put in a position where he could dictate 
who should be Senator, Governor, or President, 
and what should be the party policy and na- 
tional interest, then his independent election as 
mayor of Greater New York might have been 
a blessing, possibly the dawn of the millennium; 
but actually it would have placed too much 
power in any one man. We are still a republic 
and hope to continue as such. In the face of 
such a situation it would have been treason for 
Piatt to have allowed the Republican organiza- 
tion to lay down and let Low walk over it. Phitt 
did not bolt Low's party, but Low's party did 
l)()lt Piatt's party. Both Low and Piatt knew 
that the candidacy of Low imi)erilled the Re- 
])u])lican Party and played into the hand of 
Tainmany. Seth Low had notliing at stake ex- 
cept his scliolastic theories and personal ad- 
vancement; Piatt was responsible for the pres- 
ervation of the Re]>ublican Party. President 
McKinley and the Republican National Com- 
mittee made their demands on Piatt to maintain 



15 



the integrity of tlie Eepublican Party, preserve 
the nation from dictatorship, and the Kepubli- 
can Party itself from possible disintegration. 

The charge that Piatt sold out to Croker is 
flimsy on the surface, unsustained by facts, and 
contrary to common sense. It is uttered by 
those who were engaged in an unsuccessful 
movement; of that charge it can safely be said 
that the wish is parent of the thought. 

Personally, we are not prepossessed with T. 
C. Piatt. His dried-up, wizen face reminds us 
of the old Man of the Sea; yet we would rather 
have Piatt morning, noon, and night, Mondays to 
Sundays, from January to December, and from 
the cradle to the grave, than to have fifteen min- 
utes of Tammany. We will neither deny that 
Piatt is a good man nor admit that he is a bad 
man. Under existing conditions, if Piatt were to 
die to-day, and thereby please a great many peo- 
ple, another Piatt with a different name would 
take his place. AA^ien a people, a party, or a State 
is devoid of vital principles, individuals hold the 
reins of power. The fault for Plattism lies in 
the individual Republican whose political con- 
science has sunk so low that he considers him- 
self of no account, prays for good government, 
but does nothing by act or thought or speech to 
bring it about. This moral lethargy of those 
who vote, at their own convenience, the Eepub- 
lican ticket is responsible for Plattism. 

If the individual Re})ublican but knew that 
he is a living factor, had he any interest in the 
public, and would he but do his simple duty, 
Piatt could not dominate New York politics 



16 



twelve months. Such an interest can be 
aroused, but not by prevalent methods. The 
Republican voters need a removal of the cloud 
of personal politics and an opportunity to live 
in the light of true principles that will enable 
the Republican Party to conduct national poli- 
tics on national issues. State politics on State 
issues, and municipal politics on municipal is- 
sues. 

The situation in New York is the same as it 
is in all our great cities. The Republicans de- 
sire municipal betterment everywhere; but the 
national Republican Party has taken no notice 
of municipal questions; therefore the local Re- 
publican organization in New York and every- 
where else has not taken up these questions. 
Consequently, thousands of Republicans every- 
where have been lured into nonpartisan munici- 
pal movements, hoping that such movements 
would break up party lines and thus secure good 
municipal government. The net result is this: 
Party lines were broken, but only the Republi- 
can Party lines; Democracy remained solid un- 
der the banner inscribed, " To Hell with Re- 
form." The nonpartisan movement in the 
United States was an expensive experiment, and 
it is an utter failure. 

However, to wise Republicans it is a good 
lesson. In the main, those who voted for Low 
did so in good faith, believing that they were 
conserving good municipal government in so 
doing. The act was wrong; the intention was 
good. They sought the right thing in the wrong 
direction. Whether the blame for the election 



17 



of Van Wyck is chargeable to Piatt or Low, to 
the regular organization or to the reform Re- 
publicans, involves a problem in moral equa- 
tions. The fault of the Reform Republicans 
was one of action; the fault of the regular Re- 
publicans was one of non-action. Which of 
the two is most culpable we do not know and do 
not care. Bygones are bygones; the future is 
before us. If the regular Republicans hereto- 
fore refused to consider municipal reform, they 
will entertain it now with open arms; if the 
reform Republicans considered the machine too 
bad in the past, they are now perfectly willing 
to work out practical reforms through the Re- 
publican Party, the only practical political 
machine for municipal reform throughout the 
United States. The Republicans and the Re- 
publican machine have had their experience, 
paid for it, and are now ready to join hands to 
accomplish actual reforms and to subjugate De- 
mocracy. 

Tammany is the only real organized force. 
It is true to its appetites and instincts. E Pluri- 
bus Unum is translated by Tammany into Irish, 
Italian, Hebrew, Polish, German, Russian, Low 
Dutch, etc. All the year around, every month, 
every week, every day, every minute, every sec- 
ond, the Tammany machinery is at work cease- 
lessly taking in and spending all kinds of money 
— dirty cents, glossy nickels, worn-out, weary, 
hard-earned dimes, plugged quarters, silver, 
gold, greenbacks, checks; the siren, the gam- 
bler, the criminal, men, women, children, the 
rich, the poor — all must cough up to Tammany 



18 



or choke. Its revenues are princely, regal, fab- 
ulous. Its claws are covered with velvet; its 
methods are smooth or rough, according to cir- 
cumstances. 

Tammany is a well put up organization; it 
has all the functions of an animated body; it 
has a head and it has a tail, and the tail never 
wags the head. 

x\ll over New York, at all seasons, in saloon 
windows, groceries, etc., are placards or posters 
printed on green paper, announcing outings, 
picnics, balls, parties, cakewalks, etc., given by 
associations named such as " The Barney 
Bourke Association, " The Pete Dwyer Associ- 
ation," " The Francis Xavier Murphy Associa- 
tion," or " The Patrick Gilhooley Association." 
These associations are nothing more or less than 
cubs and offsprings of the Tammany tiger. 
"When some man has learned his Tammany cate- 
chism, been confirmed, and has reached a cer- 
tain degree in Tammany orders and is ready to 
consecrate his talents to politics, plunder, and 
Tammany, the head of Tammany permits his 
friends to apply to the Secretary of State for 
articles of incorporation for an association 
named in his name. Officers are elected. Then 
tlie ohl Tammany tiger sits over in one corner 
and winks one eye and tlien tlie other eye, and 
lo and behold! the neighborhood chips into the 
treasury of the association enough money to 
enable the worthy gentleman to prosecute his 
political career, unhampered financially, with 
willing hands and Avarm hearts outstretched in 
his behalf. Now he is in training. In due time 



19 



he will be nominated and elected to an office. 
Then the postman brings letters to his house 
addressed to "" The Hon. Patrick Gilhooley.'' 
You reformers and silk stockings, yon can't beat 
that kind of a deal. While you play golf, they 
collect and eat your taxes. 

For years we have pondered over the peculiar 
political phenomenon in New York City poli- 
tics, that a certain element, large numerically, 
financially, and from the standpoint of what is 
called respectable, are open and avowed Tam- 
manyites. Municipally they are for Tammany; 
nationally they are independent; instinctively 
they are Eepublican; but self-interest has per- 
verted nature and moral cowardice has made 
them Democrats. They owm too much prop- 
erty, they have too many interests at stake to 
become the victims of Tammany; so they first 
become tributaries and buy immunity. Then 
the Tammany tiger, first fed on the door-stoop, 
stealthily enters their house and says: '' I ain't 
a bad tiger; just give me all I want and I'll be 
real good. Ijet's be friends and do business. 
You^ll always know where to find me and my 
price. If you're my friend, I'll protect you from 
that bad man Piatt." The situation is convinc- 
ing, and self-interest will always find an excuse 
for moral turpitude. 

Should Tammany, at any time, use the muni- 
cipal enginery, it could loot Wall Street in a 
manner that would turn red Populists green 
with envy. New York City is governed by a 
political system by means of which the lower 
orders of society dominate the upper classes. 



20 



The vast number of voters whose intelligence 
and education is low, and whose worldly posses- 
sions are small, generally outvote the vast num- 
ber of voters whose intelligence and education 
is high and whose individual wealth is consider- 
able. Why? Because they are well-officered. 
Because they are obedient. Because, among 
them the individual knows little, has less, and, 
alone, amounts to nothing; but, banded to- 
gether, they are strong and can hold up a com- 
munity. Another set of men, small in number, 
comparatively speaking, but Jesuitically cun- 
ning and unscrupulous in methods, officer these 
vast ignorant voters, look after their needs in 
a measure, and absolutely control their votes. 
A cunning mentality gives recognition for obe- 
dience; and it does a big business. 

A large number of Brooklyn voters will bolt 
the Republican ticket this fall because a num- 
ber of Republican municipal officials, some of 
whom were endorsed by the Citizens' Union, 
have been indicted for corruption in office. 
Such action is shallow, erratic, and wrong. 
Primarily, the fault lies in the system, which 
is rotten. The legal indictment is against the 
Republican officials; the moral indictment is 
against the Republican voters who have not 
done anything to improve the defects of the 
system. 

Tammany wants no improvement in munici- 
pal conditions; but, be it said to its credit, it 
protects its members from jails and peniten- 
tiaries. Boss Croker boasts that but one con- 
viction came from all the Lexow investigation, 



21 



and that a Republican. Who ever heard of 
Democrats being convicted for corruption in 
public office? They all hold policies in a com- 
pany for protection from punishment for crime; 
the members keep up their dues, fees, and in- 
stalments, and the society has never yet made 
a default. 

On the other hand, those who vote the Re- 
publican ticket, as a general thing, possess such 
a degi-ee of education, intelligence, and thrift 
that if they have not yet attained wealth or 
competence, they have the means for their at- 
tainment within themselves. They are not 
obliged to look to any party, organization, con- 
federation, or band for the means to live. They 
are independent. If the Republican ticket is 
to their notion perfectly straight, if the t's are 
crossed and the i's dotted, and if the weather is 
good on election day, they may go to the polls. 
But the Tammany tarriers swallow anything 
that is put before them. 

Tammany is a bee-hive; it has its busy bees, 
it has its tireless workers, and its drones; it 
gathers its honey and it has its sting. The hive 
of the bee has its cells, compartments, and di- 
visions; the Tammany liive has its wards, As- 
sembly and Congressional districts. Military 
and natural order prevails in both hives. The 
bees have a queen bee; the Tammany bees have 
a king bee. Every summer, at the race-track 
in England, the Prince of Wales associates with 
kings, queens, princes, and Richard Croker. 

The boys in blue fighting the Spaniards 
adopted the motto, " Remember the Maine "; 



22 



the slogan of the New York Republicans should 
be, " Look out for Tammany/' 

In New York City and State the Eepublican 
Party is afflicted with too much ^^ personal poli- 
tics/' It's a case of too much Johnson, Piatt, 
Low, Brookfield, Lou Payne, Swayne, Lauter- 
bach, Milholland, Gibbs, Quigg, Black, etc. 
There is a whole raft of little big fellows tearing 
the Republican Party in pieces. Divest them 
all of their personal purposes, and what's left? 
Nothing! No vital principles are promulgated 
or at issue. 

In 1882 the dissatisfaction of the Republicans 
of New York at the interference of the national 
administration in New York politics caused the 
election of Grover Cleveland as Governor of 
New York State by stupendous majorities; it 
bred the political disease known as mugwump- 
ery; it introduced into national politics a 
stuffed prophet to fool the American people; 
it enabled a Buffalo hangman to become Presi- 
dent of the United States and break the neck of 
prosperity; it made out of a political rounder 
a political saint; it made a briefless lawyer a 
fat millionaire; it made smokeless factory chim- 
neys; it paralyzed trade and commerce; it rele- 
gated to oblivion the Democratic free trade slo- 
gan after its ])ainful and expensive trial; it 
stopped the noi-mal circulation of money; 
throughout the United States; it caused empty 
stomachs and fat graveyards. 

Politically, New York has always been a mis- 
chief-maker. If it had not been for Martin 
Van Bur en and New York, Andrew Jackson 



23 



would never have been President of the United 
States; that day and generation would have 
been spared financial panics, commercial calam- 
ities, and industrial disasters; the vicious cred- 
ulity of subsequent generations would have been 
minus one patron saint and evil spirit. If it liad 
not been for the same Martin Van Buren and 
his political nursery at Kinderhook, his pupil, 
Samuel J. Tilden, would never have been known 
in public life. The Electoral Commission did 
this country a very good service. The appoint- 
ment of Robertson to the measly office of Col- 
lector of the Port of New York convulsed the 
Republican Party and rent it from centre to cir- 
cumference and lead to the assassination of 
President Garfield. What further deviltry the 
Republican personal politics of N"ew York may 
have in store for this nation, we dare not con- 
template. We should characterize New York 
Republican politics as independent, infernal id- 
iocy. If you fellows have no principles or per- 
sonal self-respect, please bear in mind a whole 
nation is made to suffer on your account. In 
New York every Assembly " legislative " dis- 
trict has a party leader chosen by the votes of 
the committeemen in that district. His title is 
that of " leader.^^ His powers are those of the 
chairman of a district committee, ordinarily, to- 
gether with special powers that make him per- 
sonally responsible for the party in his district. 
There are thirty-five Assembly Districts in New 
York, now " Borough of Manhattan." We have 
met, personally, every one of tliem. Their total 
make-up embraces the good, the bad^ and the 



24 



indifferent. Some of them are true-blue Ke- 
publieans, such as you could well imagine go to 
sleep at night wrapped up in the Stars and 
Stripes; others are unsentimental, cold-blooded 
machine mechanics, who consider the Republi- 
can Party as so much merchandise. 

The Republican organization in New York is 
much like the Republican organization in all 
our great municipalities; it is justly subject to 
criticism; it is habituated to existing condi- 
tions; it is much in need of betterment. But 
this work of improvement must come within 
party lines. Correction must not take the shape 
of destruction. 

Sixteen years after the political storm that 
buried Judge Folger, just as N'ew York expands 
her city limits to the boundaries of Greater N"ew 
York, the same elements, in the shape of a non- 
partisan cyclone, paved the way for Tammany's 
victory and prosperity. Often out of evil comes 
good. The defeat of Seth Low was the death- 
knell of municipal nonpartisan movements in 
the United States. Paris sets the pace of fash- 
ion for the world; unfortunately for Uncle 
Sam, New York sets the political pace in the 
United States. Everywhere in the United 
States movements to build up municipal non- 
partisan organizations have been destructive to 
the Republican Party and a covert ally to De- 
mocracy. 

The defeat of Seth Low knocked out the key- 
stone, and with it collapsed the whole structure. 
And all the king's horses and all the king's men 
can't pick Humpty Dumpty up again. The 



25 



Eepublican Party can emerge from defeat 
stronger and better. Already the Eepublican 
Party in many States and cities is beginning to 
take np municipal questions in earnest, honest- 
ly, heartily, and sincerely. Soon the reformer 
can say, with Othello, " my occupation is gone." 

There is a vast difference between the Mug- 
wump reformer's municipal attitude and the 
coming Eepublican municipal attitude. The 
Eeformers have said, Look upon the Democratic 
side — see how bad they are; look upon the Ee- 
publican side — see how bad they are; look upon 
us — see how good we are. This is pure sophis- 
try; it is pharisaieal and hypocritical. The Ee- 
publican Party is now taking hold of these mu- 
nicipal questions in a different spirit; its posi- 
tion is that we are suffering from an old, anti- 
quated municipal system in this country, which, 
because it is inadequate, breeds corruption; the 
Eepublican party invites all Eepublicans to 
study the subject, so that we may thoroughly 
understand it and bring the whole system up 
to our own level and high standard. 

This paper is unalterably opposed to Democ- 
racy and mugwumpery alike, in every form. It 
is friendly to Eepublicans, whether they be or- 
ganization or anti-organization, as long as they 
are Eepublicans. 

There are two things the Eepublican Party in 
Greater New York must do: (1) To discover and 
adhere to the essential municipal principles nec- 
essary for the best interests of this vast com- 
munity; (2) to secure the best men to execute 
this work. 



26 



If the regular organization is incapable or 
indisposed to do tliiS;, then anti-organization Re- 
publicans are a necessity, and, as long as they 
act in good faith, they are genuine. If they are 
gotten up to serve individual and purely selfish 
interests by persons who seek to sandbag the 
regular organization for pie, plums, or meat, 
who serve only personal ends, and make de- 
mands under threat of turning influence and 
votes over to citizens' movements, if such is the 
case, the participants should be assailed and de- 
stroyed. If, however, men of high character, 
actuated by a true spirit of good citizenship, are 
willing to put up money, time, and attention, 
such elforts are laudable and will have the sanc- 
tion of the vast masses of Republicans; and 
their demands upon the regular organization, 
when reasonable and just, will be cheerfully and 
naturally acceded to. Common sense and ne- 
cessity assure this. If, perchance, the regular 
organization should be devoid of the requisite 
common sense, then the anti-organizations could 
be made to supplant the regular organization. 

The doors of the Republican Party are open 
the year round to all Republicans. Those who 
do nothing for the party throughout the year 
often are the ones who, on election day, kick 
those who do. If a man is a Republican, let 
him do his duty to his ])arty; lie should not be 
dead timber and an obstruction. Let him put 
up or shut u]). If some men would content 
themselves with doing their ])olitical duty in 
their home wards or districts, at club meetings 
and primaries, side by side with other common 



27 



people like themselves, instead of posing before 
the whole community as something better, su- 
perior, and holier than the regular Republicans, 
their aggregate efforts would benefit the party. 
These gentlemen have for years been clamoring 
for an honest primary law. In New York and 
Illinois the Republican Legislatures have passed 
such primary laws as they desired. When put 
into operation, this law lias shown in New York 
and in Chicago that the best primary law that 
the ingenuity of man can devise is useless to 
the man who will not attend primaries. 

Now^ gentlemen, let us throw off sham, hypoc- 
risy, and prudery, and exercise a little common 
sense in political affairs. Let us high-toned fel- 
lows look into the City Directory for the address 
of our local Republican club. Let us call around 
once in a Avhile and see the boys, and show that 
we ain't stuck up; let's leave a ten or a twenty, 
a fifty or a hundred, to buy dough or other stuff' 
necessary to any business. It's bread cast upon 
the waters that will come back to us. Let's tell 
the boys they will do us a favor to take our coin. 
Let's tell them it is a wilhng tax we cheerfully 
pay to those who run the political machinery of 
the grandest political party in the grandest 
country on this earth. 

All over the United States we have found 
til at, in the main, the workers in the Republican 
Party, not the ringleaders, would infinitely pre- 
fer to be in politics under cleaner and better 
surroundings than under the prevailing condi- 
tions. Nowhere are real municipal reforms 
more desired than among them. 



28 



The columns of this paper will be open to 
all sides of Eepublicanism. Bear and forbear 
brings domestic peace; it applies likewise to 
party politics. 

In New York City Tammany is the common 
enemy to the best interests. In the face of such 
a foe the Eepublicans should not split hairs, but 
stand together as a unit. 



3477-3.25 
Lot 52 



. C I. 



